Although Jack was ecstatic that his best friend was awake, it wasn't long before Mac realised he was having trouble moving. The collar was still around his neck, stopping any movement of his head, and his hands only curled clumsily, jerking up to his chest, when he tried to investigate what it was.

Jack, quickly stood, taking Mac's hands and pulling them away, pressing them gently to the kids stomach, where they wouldn't go pulling at anything he wasn't supposed to.

"Leave that alone, bud. I know you don't like it, but it's important."

Thorton gave Jack a look, and took her leave, as Mac's heart monitor began to squeal. He tried to pull his hands from Jack's hold, but he was so weak, and his chest hurt. His breaths began coming too fast, and panicked whimpers fell from his mouth, as Jack tried to soothe him.

"Jack? What's...What's happening? What's wrong with me? Where are we?"

Jack squeezed Mac's hands, and spoke softly, trying to get him to focus, before the nurses could come and try to sedate him. He didn't want Mac sleeping again so soon after getting him back.

"It's okay, you're safe here. I'll tell you everything but you need to calm down first. Shh, Mac. Just take a deep breath, come on. I got ya, I'm not leaving."

Those blue eyes were so wide, as they locked with Jacks gaze, Mac's panicked breaths coming as painful wheezes, pulled in between his teeth.

Jack continued to mumble the same reasurances over and over, as he placed a wide palm over MacGyvers chest, to feel the thump of his heart, and the rise and fall of his breathing.

"I got you, just breathe, Mac. You're okay, you're safe. That's it, just keep those eyes on me. Hey, why are you so scared, huh? I'm right here I won't let anything get ya. You trust me don't you?"

It took a while, but finally, Mac was breathing a little easier, and his heart was back in normal rhythm.

"There you go. Now, I'm going to tell you everything, but I need you to just stay calm. No matter what happens, I will always be right here next to you. You know that. And despite all this, you'll be okay."

Mac squeezed Jacks fingers as much as his clumsy digits could. "Just tell me."

Jack nodded, but he hesitated; not knowing where to start. "Okay, what do you remember?"

Mac frowned minutely as he searched his muddled mind. "Um...we were on a mission. Farhad had a bomb, and I...I made him think that I triggered it, but it was just the timer."

Jack nodded. "Anything else?"

"No. What happened?"

He sighed. How was he supposed to tell him? He'd almost died, because Jack hadn't gotten to him fast enough. He might not ever be okay again, because no matter how much they tried or worked at it, some things are too broken; and they didn't really know if Mac would get back what he lost.

He couldn't look at Mac when he said it, choosing to instead, to stare at their twined fingers.

"Farhads guys tossed us around, knocked you out, and tied us to the bomb. They activated it, and- oh, I almost forgot, he also stabbed you in the leg too, the bastard. .You were bleeding out, and concussed, and you couldn't disarm it. All you could do was take the kick out of it, and make sure it didn't blow up anything but the warehouse."

He started choking up, all the guilt coming back, as he tried to find some way to apologise. "Mac...I couldn't get to you fast enough, I didn't...I tried to get to you, but there wasn't enough time. You didn't make it out. You were still in there when the bomb blew, and the warehouse came down on top of you."

His eyes were misting over, and Mac looked down at himself in the bed, and around the room. Mac was sure he'd been in the same bed for days, so why did he still have the neck brace on? And why was it so hard to move?

"Jack? How bad is it?" He was finding it hard to talk, as the lump in his throat grew.

Jack seemed to be having the same problem. He closed his eyes as he answered, his voice coming out strangled.

"Mac, buddy..." He didn't have to say anything else. His tone said it all. It was bad.

Tears fell down Macs cheeks, as a sob erupted from him. It made his chest ache, and head pound, but he couldn't stop it. He was scared, and he didn't know what was happening to him. He couldn't move, and he felt trapped in a way he never had before.

He was known for being able to get out of anything, no matter the situation, but now he could't find the strength or coordination to wipe his own tears away.

His fingers gripped Jack's as hard as he could, sobbing out his name as he tried to tug him closer.

"Jack."

The older man, had tears of his own, falling down his face, and he finally looked Mac in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mac. I'm so sorry. But, it'll be okay. No matter what happens it'll all be okay. I promise buddy, I'm not leaving you. Not for a second."

It was heartbreaking, seeing Mac sob as if he was completely defeated. Mac never gave up on anything, and he didn't cry easily, not like Jack. Jack had only ever see him cry a handful of times, and none of them came close to how much it hurt to see Mac cry himself to sleep, in the hospital bed in a foreign country. Because there wasn't anything he could do to stop it, or make it better.

Jack wiped his partners tears away, mumbling the same reassurances, until the poor little guy cried himself out, and fell asleep. "I got you, kid."

….

"By traveling inside drag-cutting gas pockets, new subsea systems can move much faster underwater than their conventional counterparts on the same amount of energy." Jack frowned at the magazine he was holding, before turning his gaze to Mac, who was patiently waiting for him to continue.

"I can keep reading it, but you know I won't understand any of it. They're just words to me, and I'll probably say them all wrong."

The kid smiled. "I can explain it to you. Or I could just read it myself."

Jack waved a hand, and straightened out the science magazine in his hands. "No, you can't. It's not good to strain your eyes after a big concussion, you just lay back and let me read it to you."

Jack found all the articles completely boring, of course; it was like a homework book but for nerdy adults that didn't even go to school anymore. But Mac liked it, and so Jack was happy to read it to him.

"Now, where were we?"

Jack's phone rang, before he could find where he left off, and he fished it out of his pocket, before the noise could give Mac's sensitive brain a headache.

"Yo, this is Jack."

"Jack! Where the hell is Mac?!"

The older agent winced, as he stood and took his call to the other end of the room, ignoring the way Mac was trying to steal the magazine.

He put on his best reassuring voice. "Heyyy, Bozer. My man, what's happening? Whats up?"

Bozer did not sound happy, his voice was loud and a little panicked. "Where the hell is Mac? He isn't answering his phone, and you two were supposed to be back home three days ago!"

"I'm sorry, the work trip got extended and we don't know how long we're going to be. Mac's sort of the head guy on all our projects so he's been real busy. Sorry, I should have called."

Jack ran a hand over his face, feeling drained. He hated lying to his friends, especially since Bozers best friend had almost died, and he didn't know about, and likely never would.

"Can I talk to him? Is he okay? Don't let him overwork himself, Jack. Last time he came home from one of your extended work trips, he slept for two days. I've been worried sick about him!"

Jack looked over to where Mac was sitting in bed, brace still around his neck, flipping through his science magazine to look at the pictures. He was still having trouble using his hands properly, his fingers clumsy and stiff. Jack hated seeing him struggle with something as simple as turning a page.

"He's fine, but he's really busy, Boze. Pattys working us real hard over here, and I just don't know when we'll make it home. I'm really sorry man, I think it might be a few weeks."

He hated it, but Mac needed to have the neck brace on for at least six weeks, and there was just no way he could go home to Bozer like that. Bozer didn't like it either.

"A few weeks?! They can't keep you there that long, that's insane! Let me talk to Mac!"

Jack ducked his head, hating the lies that kept coming. "He's really swamped right now, but I promise I'll get him to call you when he's able. I'll talk to you later, buddy."

He hung up before Bozer could say anything else, and felt bad as soon as he'd done it. But it couldn't be helped.

Jack turned back to his partner, with an exaggerated smile, pulling the magazine from his fingers. "No reading for you. I hope you were just looking at the pictures. Are there any pictures in these things?"

Mac returned the smile, before looking at the phone still clutched in Jacks hand. His voice was quiet. "Was that Bozer?"

Jack hesitated, taking his seat, before he nodded. "Yeah. He's been calling you, but it's not like I could tell him your phone was crushed under a building, so I told him you were busy."

Mac's gaze slid from Jack, to outside the window, at the foreign sky. "I wish we were at some boring think tank meeting."

Jack patted his knee, knowing exactly how he felt. "Me too, buddy."

….

"Jack, where are we?"

The older man didn't look up from where he was tucking Mac's blankets in. "Hospital in Cairo. You were in an accident, but you're okay now."

Mac frowned, watching his partners face closely. "What happened?"

Jack sighed, and carefully straightened out the blanket around Mac's chest, laying all the tubes and wires out so they wouldn't get caught on anything. "You were disarming a bomb, but it went off. You didn't get out of the building in time."

Mac opened his mouth to say something else, but Jack caught his eye and stopped him. "No one else got hurt, everyone's okay. And before you ask, again, it's Tuesday. You've been here for a week, and awake and talking for two of those days. Not that you'd remember. There, you warm enough now?"

Mac frowned, voice small as he ignored Jacks question and asked his own. "I keep asking the same questions?"

Jack nodded, and sat down. "Yep, but don't worry; just because I've told you the answer a hundred times, doesn't mean I won't tell you a hundred more. You'll come right, you just have to be patient. Doc, said you rattled your head around pretty good in the explosion."

Mac looked Jack up and down, as if looking for something. "Are you okay?"

The older agent shrugged his good shoulder, his other one still sore. "I got a little glass in my arm, nothing too major. Don't you worry about me, just focus on getting better, okay? Bozer's already getting antsy about when you're coming home. I told him our work trip has been extended, and you're too busy to call him. So, you should call him as soon as you can remember our cover story for more than five minutes."

Mac looked embarrassed, staring down at his lap, rather than Jacks face. "Sorry. That must be really annoying."

Jack laughed, but the sound wasn't mocking, it was warm and familiar. He brought a gentle fist to Macs chin, pushing against it like a tiny punch, making Mac smile.

"Naw, it makes me feel like I'm the one with all the answers for once. Now I know what it's like to be you, except without all the nerdy stuff."

Mac couldn't help but crack a smile. "Okay, Jack. Whatever you say."

(I hope you like this chapter! Also one of my brothers has had so many hits to the head, that he forgets stuff sometimes like Mac does in this chapter. I was in the supermarket with him and he asked me if I had my ID about eight times in the space of thirty seconds. It's funny, a little annoying, and disconcerting, all at the same time, because he honestly cannot remember asking me the question even though it was five seconds ago, so yeah it really happens like that,)